Versifying Batman: Superheroes in contemporary poetry
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Jeff Thoss
Abstract
Since the late 1980 s, poets from the US and, to a lesser extent, the UK have increasingly featured superheroes in their work, mostly appropriating iconic figures along the lines of Batman or Superman and exploring some aspect of their personality (e. g., Batman’s relationship to Robin, Superman’s loneliness) in dramatic monologues. The prevailing if not sole account of this phenomenon argues that these characters provide a shared mythology to a generation of writers to whom biblical and classical references are no longer readily available. It also ties the superheroes’ provenance exclusively to the medium of comics. This latter point, in particular, is open to debate, insofar as since the late 1980 s, superheroes are, more than ever, part of media franchises that treat comic books as but one among many outlets. The present article hence views the superheroes in poetry not so much as an appropriation of comic book but of transmedia characters. Simon Armitage’s seminal poem “Kid” (1992), for instance – a diatribe by Robin directed at Batman’s dismissal of him – resonates as much with the 1960 s TV series or Tim Burton’s Batman films (1989, 1992) as with the dark knight’s reinvention at the hands of comic book writers such as Frank Miller or Alan Moore. At the same time, the article aims to locate the place of the seemingly insular genre of poetry within a “convergence culture” that disseminates superheroes in the media ecology. Evidently, the “superhero poems” are not licensed creations that partake in officially sanctioned transmedia networks. Neither, however, are they a product of fandom and participatory culture. Instead, I would suggest that poetry here tentatively engages with the media culture that has factored into its marginalization during the past decades.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Introduction: Characters across media
- Transmedia characters: Theory and analysis
- Buck Rogers in the 25th century: Transmedia extensions of a pulp hero
- Kyara revisited: The pre-narrative character-state of Japanese character theory
- Which Donald is this? Which tyche is this? A semiotic approach to nomadic cartoonish characters
- Versifying Batman: Superheroes in contemporary poetry
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Introduction: Characters across media
- Transmedia characters: Theory and analysis
- Buck Rogers in the 25th century: Transmedia extensions of a pulp hero
- Kyara revisited: The pre-narrative character-state of Japanese character theory
- Which Donald is this? Which tyche is this? A semiotic approach to nomadic cartoonish characters
- Versifying Batman: Superheroes in contemporary poetry
- “We don’t get to stay the same way we started”: The walking dead, augmented television, and sociological character-building
